I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky

October 21, 2009 | Iowa,Weird things

For just a few hours one day in October, my yard was filled with thousands of birds. When I first pulled into my driveway, I noticed the grass in my yard was black. Then I looked again. My grass wasn’t black. My grass was covered with black birds. As I neared the garage, they flew off in a mass. I parked the car, grabbed my cameras and followed them around the yard.

They flitted about and flew from tree to tree in droves. It was fascinating and a little creepy in a Hitchcockian way.

They were so high in the trees, I figured there was no way they could hear me over their own noise. But as I walked through the yard, it seemed as if I disturbed one and set them off to swarm away in a group to the next tree. At that moment, the chirping would stop, and all I could hear was the fluttering of wings. (I’d also get that dippy feeling in my stomach that maybe I should duck or run for cover.) Then the chorus would start again.

I listened and watched for about an hour. By the time I brought the kids home from school, all the birds were gone.